


Retirement & Reunification

by afteriwake



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Academy Awards, Alternate Universe - Actors, Award Winners, Confessions, Crying Molly Hooper, Drunk Molly Hooper, F/M, Happy Ending, Interviews, Love Confessions, Mentioned Meena, Moran is an Actor, Past Molly Hooper/Sebastian Moran, Phone Calls & Telephones, Retirement, Second Chances, Surprises, Television, Television Watching, Viewing Party, surprised Molly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-20
Updated: 2018-04-20
Packaged: 2019-04-25 13:46:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14379891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: A week ago, a man she thought she had lost forever told her to watch the Oscars on the telly. She didn't know what to expect, but itcertainlywasn't this...





	Retirement & Reunification

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dreamin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreamin/gifts).



> This fic was inspired by a prompt **Dreamin** sent me (“ _'you’re famous and just got asked if you were ever in love this should be good– WAIT WHAT' au. Sebolly_ ”) as well as [this gifset on Tumblr of Michael Fassbender](http://noregretsnotearsnoanxieties.tumblr.com/post/173137188028), who she fancasts as Seb.

It was a typical Oscars viewing party, except they were in England and there wasn’t so much a fancy dinner party as it was a God-early brunch with breakfast appetizers and mimosas. Mimosas that Molly had been filling up on in an effort to steel herself for the Best Actor category. Oh, she had a personal stake in that award, she did, though really, she wished she hadn’t.

She sipped her third, or possibly fourth, drink as she mused during the musical performance. Seb...her Seb...had left England four years ago to pursue a career in Hollywood. She had declined to follow him, as much as her heart had wanted to. And they’d attempted the long distance thing for a bit, but she got busy with her residency and he kept getting bigger and better roles, and soon their relationship just petered out. She’d been miserable for a time, but the sight of him in the tabloids with pretty blondes on his arm had certainly snuffed that out quickly and replaced it with a gnawing jealousy she didn’t want to admit to.

Eventually, she’d moved on. Even gotten engaged. But damn it all, Seb had her heart, and the letter she’d received from him the week before had almost convinced her she’d made a mistake.

Almost.

Meena knew that if Seb won the award tonight she was to turn it to whatever channel was hosting the backstage press conferences. He’d said he wanted to say something very important and she should watch if she was able. Why he hadn’t simply asked her to go to Los Angeles to hear it in person...well, truth be told, would she have said yes? She didn’t know. But as she set her drink down and twisted the engagement ring on her finger, she wasn’t sure whether she wanted him to win or not.

Soon the musical interlude was over and they said coming up would be the best actor awards. She picked her drink up and swallowed the last of it in one sitting before getting up and getting another scone and refilling her glass. 

Then it was all just...too much. She couldn’t wait and she just took her drink, leaving the scone behind, and locked herself in the loo. She loved him. She didn’t love the man she had said yes to marrying, she loved bloody Sebastian MacCullough Moran and damn it all, this was not _fair_. He was thousands of miles away and he’d be schmoozing with the rich and famous and what did she have to offer him? Just her heart, if he’d take it.

She felt tears stream down her cheeks and she dashed them away with the back of her hand when a screech sounded from the sitting room, a screech that sounded just like a drunken Meena being excited. She lifted her head up and was just getting off the toilet to see what was happening when there was a pounding on the door. “He’s retiring!” Meena shouted.

“What?” Molly said, unlocking the door. But Meena didn’t reply, grabbing her arm as soon as the door to the loo opened and half pulling half dragging Molly back and pushing her in front of the telly. There was music going on and Seb was nowhere to be seen, but Meena had picked up the remote and was trying to find the interview. Giving up after a moment, she turned it back to the awards show and then went to look online for a clip regarding Seb and his retirement.

It took some time, but E! had an interview up soon enough. Seb was standing there in his spiffy tuxedo, holding an Oscar in his hand. “So you’re really retiring?” the interviewer asked.

Seb nodded. “I gave up something very important to come to Hollywood, and I’m going to do whatever it takes to get it back before it’s too late,” he said. “Fame means nothing when your heart isn’t in it.”

“And just where is your heart?” the man asked.

“In London, working as a doctor at Barts,” he said.

“So you’re in love?” the man asked with a chuckle.

“I have been for years but I was too blinded by fame to see it until it almost slipped away completely,” he said, the humor the interviewer was expressing not even remotely hinted at on Seb’s face. Molly’s heart jumped into her throat and she felt herself leaning forward to catch what he was saying as her mobile began to ring.

“And what’s her...his name?” Seb was asked.

“Dr. Molly Hooper,” he said.

Around Molly, her group of friends exploded into cheers, but Molly was only focused on her mobile. Either it was Tom, and she was about to have a most unpleasant conversation, or…

She looked at the incoming call and started to shush her friends as she answered it. “You still love me, even after all this time?” she asked as she answered the call.

“Always,” Seb said. “I’m taking the first flight to Heathrow. Will you meet me?”

“Yes,” she said, a wide smile forming on her face. “Of course I’ll meet your flight.”

“Good.” He paused. “I’ve missed you, Molly.”

“I’ve missed you too,” she said as Meena began shrieking again. But she couldn’t fault her friend for her excitement. She was excited too, and the happiest she had been in an age. Maybe there was something to be said for Hollywood endings after all...


End file.
